Final Realm Quest
by NixKat
Summary: Defeating any tyrant creates a power vacuum. The Final Dreamers must combat the forces of the Core as Warrada and Chur fight for control of the Moonlands. Nothing will remain the same as past and present collide to determine the fate of the future.


A/N: I'm a big fan of the cartoon and this will be heavily in the cartoon's universe. There will be some more characters and events from the card game adapted into it however.

Final Realm Quest

Final Realm

A shiny new allegiance relic, a tome of ancient Core spells, three scrolls of pre-war history, and a third of his weight in gold. Chur stuffed his bag-of-holding relic with anything that caught his interest and wasn't bolted down. He periodically checked Agram's crystal ball to keep an eye on his former master's battle as he continued to loot while everyone is too busy to stop him.

By the yellow-orange glow of his eyes,Chur wandered deeper into the dark castle looking for more valuables to help his revolution. He stopped in front of a heavy wooden door. The evil eye symbol decorated the ancient door and reflected back his eyelights with polished stone and silver surfaces. He smirked, recognizing the entrance to Agram's private chambers. It was unlocked, none of the shadow magi's comrades were dumb enough to fool around in such an off limits area. Heavy fabrics and expensive silks draped around a massive bed in the center of the enormous room. Lush woven carpets padded the stone floor. Chur made a Flist-line for the chests full of relics stacked against one of the walls and stuffed his bag.

A portrait of a pre-corruption Agram hung smiling non-maliciously on an opposite wall with his equally happy Underneathian mate and young son. In a fit of spite, Chur shot a fireball at his former master's face. The oil covered canvas burned away until he canceled the spell to preserve the image of the Core Mother and the Dark Prince; he noticed something darkling behind it. Using his staff, the shadow magi levitated the panting aside to reveal a black portal behind it. He pressed his blue-green fingers against the smooth glass-like surface, the soft light from his eyes seemed to make the black patch even darker. Chur closed his blue-green eyelids and concentrated on the void energy he could sense emanating from the solid portal.

The darkness softened and Chur pushed his fingers inside. Hot wild void energy flowed under the surface and he took a deep breath before entering. His body shivered as Core magic flowed into and around him. Total darkness illuminated occasionally by deep glowing purple surrounded the shadow magi on all sides and flowed thickly like Cald lava rivers.

Something in the distance called to Chur's very being...

* * *

Blind eyes closed, the ghost searched for a new body to use. Agram knew his time was running out and that if he couldn't find one, especially on such a low magic planet, the magic sustaining his unnatural life would fade. The spectre shuddered and picked the closest one he could find.

* * *

 _Flames danced across the Moonlands as far as Tony could see. Smoke and shadow-spewing geysers filled the air with choking clouds that blocked the light of the rising human's eyes burned and he coughed from the soot. Bolts of magic from magi and dream creatures exploded into a thundering storm of dream energy. Furok's flightpath jolted around to avoid trouble._

 _Edyn squeezed his waist tighter and leaned forward to say something. The wind stole the Naroomi's words away from his ear. Orwin and his grandpa passed close overhead on Shirdor. Sorrow filled the eyes of the old magi. Tony could see them talking but could understand them._

 _To his left a horned Stagadan flew into view. Tony had never seen a horned Stagadan before in his adventures on the moon. He'd also never seen anyone like its rider before either, though his face looked somewhat familiar. The rider's long ponytail and blood red cape flagged behind him in the wind. Firelight and the glow of his blade gleamed off the strange magi's odd turquoise and gold armor. A bright white smile contrasted with his deep brown skin. The warrior's voice rang out loud and clear, "For the MAGI-NATION!"_

 _The air filled with the battle cries of armed magi riding flying creatures. All the realms united and carrying banners of their regions. Legions of of large eyed tentacle monsters sped towards them from the crescent of El carrying gleaming hunks of animite and flags of their own._

" _Edyn no!" Tony could only watch as his friend was engulfed in flames. Her large eyes closed as the fire licked her dark bronze skin. Ugger and her Forest Rudwot burning alongside her. Soon she vanished behind a vortex of green embers._

 _Suddenly Edyn was his side, intact but exhausted. Furok stood over them, huffing from exhaustion and using the last of his energy to defend them from the attacks of shadow creatures. Magi fell on the battlefield, only to be engulfed by slithering shadows. They rose again as twisted mutants to fight for the opposite side. Tony squinted his eyes to see a four armed shadow magi headed straight for him and Edyn. In what felt like seconds the shadow magi sauntered up to Furok and sent him back to the Dream Plane with a swipe of crystal claws. Tony gulped at the look of glee in his glowing eyes as he pointed a purple scepter at them, oily darkness dripped from the black animite at its tip. In one of his other hands the Core warrior held an altered Book of Elders. Thick green lips pulled back to reveal a fanged grin,_ " _ **There you are, Final Dreamers. We've been looking for you two. Ha ha! Now we can end this!"**_

Tony bolted awake as darkness overtook his dream. Quickly, he lit his bedside lamp and grabbed his notebook and a stick of graphite. He jotted down, in words and pictures, every aspect he could before his memories of his dream slipped away like it did last week. He pushed back his blanket and got dressed by lamplight. Tony had a sinking feeling in his belly and felt the need to share his vision with someone else. With his sprinting skills and the acrobatic training he'd developed during his time in the Moonlands he descended the tree containing his cottage, crossed the main plaza of the city, found himself panting under the part of the tree that Edyn's bedroom faced.

"With this animite, I magine Forest Plith." The human summoned his first Naroom creature from the Dream Plane as quietly as possible. He climbed onto the back of the butterfly-esque plant creature and it floated him up to Edyn's window. He knocked on the stained glass for what felt like forever. Suddenly the intricately designed window swung open.

"Okay, Tony, you are the only person who does this." In the pale purple El-light that filtered past the boy, a vivid green eye glared at Tony through a tangle of bright orange hair. Her pointed ears twitched in agitation before the bronze skinned Naroomi girl stepped aside to let the human enter her room. She flopped back onto her plush leaf filled bed and uncovered her lamp for more illumination. Edyn rubbed crust out of her eyes and asked, "Is the book giving us a new quest?"

"I think so but these visions are different from the ones I've gotten before, they're so sporadic and then I forget most of I saw like with real dreams." Tony replied and handed her his notebook flipped to the first page he used to capture his vision. He told her what he could recall.

"So, I'm on fire? But then I'm not?" Edyn asked as she looked at the picture of her engulfed in drawn flames. Then she pointed to the image below that of the two of them cowering under Furok.

"I have no clue what it means." Tony shrugged. His brown gaze dropped and his fingers tightened on the bed sheet. "Honestly it was one of the scariest parts of the vision."

"Well, if I'm fine for the rest of it then don't worry about," Edyn reassured her friend and put a hand on his. "I've got a better relationship with fire than you'd think. What I'm concerned about is this new shadow magi and our missing Strag."

"Yeah, that four armed freak was just infecting folks with void energy left and right. He might..." Tony suddenly stopped, not wanting to finish his thought. Edyn narrowed her visible eye and moved her hand to his shoulder.

"Strag'll be back from his training trip in the morning and we can tell him about it then. In the meantime we need to talk to Orwin and Evu."

* * *

Paired crystal claws blocked strikes from an enchanted wooden staff. Glowing eyes dodged kicks, swipes, and punches. The staff moved to block a downstroke from sharp claws before its wielder realized his mistake and sidestepped as blades strong enough to cut stone slipped through wood as easily as air. The magi froze still at the feel of two hard points pressing against his side.

"Looks like you win this time, brother!" The older magi laughed, his luminous gaze making green crescents in the deep shadows of his hood. His opponent backed off and retracted his glittering purple battle claws into his enchanted gauntlets. "So Strag, how's your vacation been?"

"I do believe... Master Yaki... that I would have lost... had our match gone on any longer." Strag replied panting from exhaustion. He bowed respectfully to his teacher and took a few gulps of water before answering him. The Underling handed the water flask to the Naroomi and started for his camp. "Things have been well. The few supporters left of Chur's reign have mostly been captured and dealt in accord to Underneath custom."

"Wouldn't wanna be those guys." Yaki chuckled and removed his hood. Using his Naroom magic he repaired his staff by weaving the wood back together. His smile diminished some as he continued. "Oh yeah, I heard you've gotten interested in Core stuff. What's up with with that?"

Strag sighed as he entered his camp, "During my quests with the other Final Dreamers, I have... reconciled with many things and my bloodline is one of them. I find myself curious about my heritage and about the past." He took a piece of flint from storage space inside his gauntlets and struck the stones together to light his campfire. The crackling flame illuminated the camp and gave a warm cast to the young magi's earth brown skin. The Underneathian continued, "And we are Shadowstalkers, those who fight shadows with shadows. Anything I learn could be of use to our cause."

"That may be true, brother," Yaki nodded sagely but his glowing green gaze never broke contact with his student's purple one. "But be careful, void energy is hungry and adaptable. It'll use whatever you give it, good intentions or bad ones, to get a grip on ya and not everybody can fight it off once it gets in deep. Oh yeah!"

"I understand, Master Yaki," Strag rummaged through his knapsack and pulled out some of the fungus patties his mother made. He held some out to his teacher, "My mother thinks that I do not eat well enough in Naroom, I have plenty more than I need."

"None for me, brother, but thanks for the offer." Both Shadowstalkers sat near the fire in a comfortable silence. Strag chewed through the tough sweet-savory patties and Yaki played a forest song on a wooden flute. Eventually the fire pit went cold and Strag retired to his tent to sleep. The Naroom magi slipped quietly into the forest on his own business.

Morning rolled around and Strag groaned at the sunlight. He blinked his purple and yellow eyes until his vision readjusted to the brightness. Not that it was all that helpful, like other Underlings, anything more than ten feet away was a blurry mess unless he squinted. He packed his belongings and went on his way.

His cleats kept him as surefooted among the treetops as they did in the rocky caverns of his homeland. Strag stalked towards the city of Vash Naroom to his station and his best friends. The enormous trees provided many shadows for the Shadowstalker to hide his approach from prying eyes. As nice as it was to travel the moon with his friends, nothing could beat the joy of moving like a phantom at his own pace.

Strag landed near silently on the roof of Tony's little cottage. Finding his alien friend not at home, the magi descended to the floor of the forest and crossed the city's main plaza. Several Naroomi citizens greeted the Underneathian as he approached Orwin's library. Hearing the voices of his friends Strag tracked down the familiar sounds.

"Good morn-" Strag started until he saw grim faces all around the Elder's meeting table. Edyn and Tony turned to give him strained smiles, Orwin's eyes were closed in deep thought, and Evu was looking through Tony's sketchbook. "What is the problem?"

"Well, Tony's having more prophetic dreams and we might have another quest on our hands. But they're not like his other ones since he can't remember them all that well and the Book of Elders isn't being particularly helpful." Edyn explained. The dark skinned Naroomi girl's hands moved with a frustrated energy from Tony to the sketchbook in Evu's hands to the ancient book that guided the three of them previously on their adventures.

"What do you recall of your visions Tony?" Strag asked the human. Evu finally looked up from Tony's sketches and cast an illustration spell to assist Tony telling his story. Orwin came to attention as well, still stroking his short beard and mustache.

"Ok, so there's like this huge war going on and all of the realms are fighting together against this massive army of shadow magi. Like there's fire and smoke and shadow geysers everywhere. And this weird shadow magi was just infecting folks with void energy left and right." The human said. The spell hovering above the table showed first chaos and destruction then a huge four armed magi wielding a black staff and glittering...

"Those are digging claws, only Underneathians and a select few allies of our realm use them." Strag interjected. He squinted his eyes and looked closer at the strange shadow magi's depicted physique and clothing. "By the furs and the magi's height, I would suggest that they posses Kybar mountaineer and Underneath heritage, by blood or cultural adoption. I do not personally know of any shadow magi that match this but I can make an inquiry to the other Shadowstalkers about it."

Orwin nodded sagely. His blue gaze locked onto the young warrior's and he asked, "Strag, would you also contact the UnderHistorians to see if they can uncover records of any magi close to Tony's description. It is possible that they are not yet tainted by void energy and the Core is well documented to cause various deformities that those extra limbs could be indicative of."

"Yes sir." The Underling replied.

"Ok," Tony started up again. He wasn't offended by the interruption but he wanted to be done with all the explaining. "Whoever the weirdo is or will be or whatever, he's after the Final Dreamer power and he might have… will? capture Strag or..."

"Turn me to the shadows?" Strag voiced the words that his friend implied. With some practiced effort the Shadowstalker kept his emotions from reaching his face. He understood perfectly well that his ancestry and personal feelings about it made him more vulnerable than most to corruption. That didn't mean that the thought of turning into a shadow magi didn't make him feel unclean.

"We, obviously, won't be letting that happen." Edyn chimed in. Her confidence was absolute.

"Right." Tony agreed, though he didn't sound nearly as sure. Then he continued talking about his dream and the illustration spell shifted to reflect the subject, "The only other really big thing that I remember is this other weird magi that rode a Stagadan with a horn. He was fighting some big eyed tentacle monsters from the nearby planet with a lightsaber-er energy sword?"

The native Moonlanders exchanged glances awkwardly. A chuckle from old Evu cut the tension. From her voluminous robes she pulled out a tattered old book and flipped to an illustration that closely resembled the human's drawing. "It appears that you've been dreaming of the past as well, young magi. This is the legendary warrior Rayje, thousands of years ago he fought in many wars helped unite the many realms against both Agram's army and the enemies of the Ancients, those tentacled beasts from your dream. Since time is as much a thief of hard truth as it is of youth, it is not clear how much of the stories about him are fact and how much is fiction."

"Edyn, you said you didn't know this dude." Tony nagged with a skeptical look at his female friend.

"You asked me in the tail end of the night! I don't function properly when woken up before sunrise!" Edyn glared back at the human, daring him to continue pressing her buttons. Which Tony did because he wasn't the type to back down.

"The Book of Elders is just as ancient as the tales of Rayje, it would be to our favor if it cooperated." Strag said mostly to himself as he ignored the bickering of his best friends. He reached out for the book to draw it closer. The moment his dark skin touched the aged leather of its cover, energy discharged in bright golden sparks forcing the Underneathian to quickly withdraw his hand. The Dreamstone slots on the ancient tome's cover glowed and shifted into the crescent moon based crests of each realm. The old leather magicly darkened to greys and blacks as the book vibrated in the table.

"Looks like the Book's got a new favorite." Edyn commented. "I guess it'll help us now, though."

On cue the tome slammed open. Its pages flipped wildly back and forth until settling suddenly. Golden print appeared on the open pages:

 _Three is a powerful number._

 _Three warriors defeated the dark armies._

 _Three magi sealed Agram._

 _Three Final Dreamers thwarted the Lord of the Core's escape,_

 _and formed the Final Hyren to clean his mess._

 _Three together must truly unite the Moon_

 _by bringing balance to the Final Realm._

...

...

"Well at least we know what to do now..."


End file.
